This invention relates to hypofluorite compounds and to a novel method for their preparation. In a more particular aspect, this invention concerns itself with a novel route for effecting the synthesis of pentafluorotellurium hypofluorite (TeF.sub.5 OF) using fluorine fluorosulfate as a reaction component.
Hypofluorite compounds are well known and find utility for a wide variety of industrial applications. They are particularly useful as fluorinating agents for introducing fluorine atoms into another compound, and as intermediates in synthetic reactions. At the present time, however, there is no simple and convenient process for producing these compounds. Until recently, the number of elements known to form hypofluorites was limited to the nonmetal main group elements of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, selenium, fluorine and chlorine.
Generally, the method used heretofore for the synthesis of these hypofluorites involved the fluorination of the corresponding hydroxyl compounds or their metal salts with elemental fluorine. An attempt was made by Seppelt et al, Inorg. Chem. 1973, 12, 2727, to apply this method to the synthesis of the hitherto unknown TeF.sub.5 OF. The attempt was unsuccessful. An analogous method, however, proved fruitful in synthesizing TeF.sub.5 OCl which led to the conclusion that TeF.sub.5 OF is unstable or actually nonexistant. Additionally, further research efforts, as reported by Christe et al, Inorg. Chem., 1981, 20, 2104, proved to be successful in synthesizing a stable iodine hypofluorite with the observation that hypofluorites are generally more stable than the other hypohalites and the suggestion that TeF.sub.5 OF should exist and should also be stable.
In line with the observations noted above, additional experimental efforts proved successful and a novel method for synthesizing TeF.sub.5 OF was discovered. It was found that the hitherto unknown TeF.sub.5 OF compound could be produced in stable form and in relatively high yield by a process which provided for the use of fluorine fluorosulfate as the fluorinating agent.